Column on memorial day and proximity to Pentecost

Judge Callis graced one of the local Rotary clubs with a question and answer session recently. One of her administrative innovations is the development of a veteran’s court. It is designed to move veterans away from the criminal justice model into one aimed at rehabilitation as they struggle with civilian life. I noticed that John Huston’s suppressed documentary, Let there be Light, is being released. It was a study of what was called shell shock and what we would term PTSD today. We have 6500 veteran suicides every year. Others die in car crashes and at the hands of the police when the veterans endanger others in their rage and confusion. We keep those deaths under wraps on Memorial Day, and almost every other day for that matter. I am so pleased that Judge Callis mentioned her program before the last meeting prior to Memorial Day. We rightly honor those who fought and died in too many wars. With the miracles of military emergency medicine, many more soldiers are returning from the horrors of war than was the case a generation ago. What infuriates me is that the war hawks who seem delighted to send the young off to war seem to have no trouble allowing the exhausted soldiers who return home to be left on their own. Just recently I saw that the VA is hiring a large number of new counselors. We cheer them off to combat; our eyes well up when they return to base, but then we are condemned by our negligence of their needs. Cemeteries are filling up with veterans unable to adjust to civilian life to an alarming degree. Yes, the war hawks may well castigate those soldiers as weak. It feels more ennobling to honor war dead with Taps than to take on the hard task of tending to the wounds of those who return. I am so sick of those who are willing to spend unlimited amounts of money for killing machines but want to stop the flow of money to honor those who return with the services they may require. In the Christian calendar, Pentecost approaches this Sunday. Mainline churches don’t quite know what to do with this festival of the spirit. Christmas and Easter seem so much clearer. The situation was rife with potential conflict. The disciples were grieving the death of Jesus and coming to grips with the ascension. It would be so frustrating to try to speak to people possessed of so many different languages. Instead they found the courage to quit hiding and speak in public. To their astonishment, they spoke in Aramaic, but every person heard them in their own language. The story of the tower of Babel was reversed. So much of our conflict is through our inability and outright refusal to speak and listen with focus and clarity. Pentecost points us to the possibilities of the spirit of peace. Memorial Day rightly has the spirit of honoring the spirit of courage and commitment of the fallen. For the days after, we can make bold statements for peace and support candidates who will support the needs of veterans with money and services and not lip service. The rubber hits the road in being more aware of conflict resolution models at home, school, work, and church. In some ways, it is easy to sign a petition, join a demonstration, even write letters for public commitment to peace. Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers. Yes, sometimes, it requires war to ensure a lasting public peace. Every day, we neglect to learn the ways of peace in more personal, concrete ways. Perhaps the best parade we could create for memorial Day is a parade of peacemakers who honor the fallen in war with the pipes of peace in our own community.